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Australia

Great Australian Train Trek

Program No. 3110RJ

Experience an immersive adventure through an incredible landscape — traverse Australia by rail on two iconic train journeys.

Wishlist

Start

Train Treks

Program

At a Glance

Duration

27 days

Program Begins

Sydney

Program Concludes

Sydney

Meals

64 ( 24B, 20L, 20D )

Activity Level

Journeying by railway isn’t just travel — it’s an immersive adventure that allows you to truly take in the vastness of Australia, from the Sydney Opera House to Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kakadu National Park to the Great Barrier Reef and beyond. Stitch together amazing natural beauty and fascinating human history on an extraordinary four-week journey that encompasses the best this immense island continent has to offer.

Best of all, you'll...

Journey on Australia’s two iconic trains: the Indian Pacific across the Nullarbor Plain and the Ghan from Darwin to Alice Springs.
Enjoy a boat cruise through World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, a unique archaeological and ethnological reserve, to view Kakadu’s abundant bird life.
Attend a performance at the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House and enjoy an expert-led exploration of this iconic building.

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Featured Expert

All Experts

David O'Brien

Originally from the island state of Tasmania, Dave O’Brien has lived in North Queensland for more than 30 years. Working as a biologist almost his entire career, Dave has been involved in reptile research, aquaculture, government organizations, private enterprise and owning his own business. Outside of work, Dave’s interests include birding, photography and long-distance running. He has been married since 1986 and has two adult children, presently living in Melbourne, Australia and Alberta, Canada.

Please Note:

This expert may not be available for every date of the program

Please Note:

These experts may not be available for every date of the program

David O'Brien

Sue Grebenschikoff

Sue Grebenschikoff is an instructor and site coordinator in Cairns. Originally from Sydney, Sue moved to Cairns 20 years ago after she fell in love with the tropical region. Sue has a bachelor’s degree in commerce with a concentration in marketing, is a keen gardener, and loves to travel and meet people. She has worked in various capacities for many years on award-winning wilderness adventure programs around tropical North Queensland.

Andrew Fitzgerald

Andrew Fitzgerald is a keen astronomer with considerable experience presenting information on stars, planets, our solar system, and the galaxy to large groups. He regularly presents a session on the local radio station informing locals and visitors of current astronomical features and events. Andrew’s wealth of knowledge enhances sessions exploring the features of Southern Hemisphere skies.

Cherie Toovey

Equally comfortable in high heels or hiking boots, award-winning local expert Cherie Toovey has explored Western Australia in depth utilizing accommodations from luxury hotels to backcountry campsites. She regularly helps learners discover sites ranging from Rottnest Island, a conservation area on the seacoast noted for its quokkas (a rare marsupial species), to the Parliament House in Perth and the wine-producing Swan Valley. Cherie enjoys sharing her love of history and geography with Road Scholar program participants.

Rayleen Brown

Rayleen Brown is an Aboriginal who worked as a project officer to help Aboriginals secure their traditional land. She now owns and operates a successful catering business that’s been specializing in traditional bush products and foods for the past 10 years. In addition, Rayleen is a member of the national Bush Foods Council, an educator for schools across Central Australia and a mentor with the local Desert Leadership Program. She continues to be a strong advocate for the Aboriginal people to this day.

Michael Kidd

Michael Kidd is a retired secondary school principal and teacher. After teaching mathematics at four Sydney high schools, he was appointed the principal of Hurlstone Agricultural High School, a school on 200 acres of farmland with 300 boarders, mostly from the country in New South Wales. He and his wife Robyn (also a retired secondary school principal and Road Scholar group leader) have traveled extensively with their two daughters. As group leader, Michael loves to share his passion for his homeland with Road Scholars.

Martin Ludgate

Martin Ludgate was a lecturer at Charles Darwin University in Alice Springs, where he lectured and managed the educational travel program. Now semi-retired (although still doing some lecturing and leading educational excursions), Martin has a keen interest in local history and culture as well as the landscapes, flora and fauna of the Northern Territory. “The great pleasure of enabling Road Scholar participants to bring alive their desire to experience a sense of Outback Australia, which they have heard so much about, makes my involvement so rewarding,” Martin says.

Andrea Powell

Andrea Powell has extended her business skills in finance and HR into her passion for travel, learning and meeting people. While working in corporate industries, including publishing, superannuation and private education, the next travel adventure always had to be on the near horizon. After re-training in group leading and attaining professional industry accreditation, Andrea is thoroughly enjoying exploring Australia. Andrea has always lived in Sydney but has stepped foot on all continents. She loves suburban culture, cafes and the quirky side of life.

John Watkins

John Watkins has a passion for fostering cross-cultural understandings and the building of trusted relationships between individuals and organizations. His passion emanates from his involvement in and love of sport, outdoor recreation and experiential education. John considers travel to be the ultimate teacher. He worked in an extensive career in sports management and corporate business development. John is a recognized change agent and business development manager. In his free time, John enjoys skiing, swimming and bush walking and follows rugby, American football, cricket and tennis.

Les "Harry" Day

Les Day has had a 40-year career working in the customer service, marketing and promotions fields. For a lot of that period, Les was running his own businesses. Les has many years' experience leading groups of overseas visitors throughout Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. He has also led groups of Australians throughout parts of the UK, Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Mary Gordon

Mary Gordon has had a career full of variety, with university qualifications in science, wildlife and park management, and occupational health and safety. Her roles across Australia have ranged from caring for reptiles at the Museum of South Australia and looking after visitors to the Northern Territory Wildlife Park to running an ecology project at the University of Melbourne and setting up her own vineyard. Having returned to South Australia, Mary is thrilled to be able to educate visitors about her homeland.

Russell Boswell

Russell Boswell is the manager of Savannah Guides and Savannah Way Limited. A long-term Cairns resident, Russell’s background is in education and marketing. His travel career has included group and safari operation, magazine publishing, and training local experts. Russell sits on several industry committees and has been the proud recipient of a Cassowary Award for services to Wet Tropics nature-based travel.

Hirani Kydd

Hirani Kydd has a background in biology and zookeeping, and began leading groups in the Wet Tropics in the mid-2010s. Hirani loves anything to do with natural history, but particularly enjoys the interconnectedness of all lifeforms within an ecosystem, and how they work together or against each other. The Wet Tropics is a fantastic place to see this. When she is not thinking about biology in a landscape, Hirani is probably thinking about geology instead.

Elspeth Kyle-Little

Elspeth Kyle-Little is an Adelaide-based group leader and site coordinator. During the Road Scholar offseason, she cooks at a local restaurant and operates a small business making handmade soap. After studying silversmithing at art school in Adelaide in her 20s, Elspeth moved to Darwin and then remote Arnhem Land in Australia's far north until her mid-forties. Now settled in the Southern Adelaide Hills, she dabbles with watercolor painting, pottery, and gardening.

Craig Mackey

Craig Mackey's interest in steam locomotives developed during his university days and has remained his passion since. In 2008, he was offered the role of project manager in charge of overhaul of Australia’s most famous preserved steam locomotive. He is currently the archives supervisor of the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS). Established in 1933, ARHS now constitutes the largest private collection of archives pertaining to railways in Australia. Craig enjoys travel, exploring, and photographing what remains of the NSW Railways, and dabbles in model engineering.

Alan Guest

Alan Guest is a retired electrician and construction industry trainer/assessor. He has an intimate knowledge of West Australia's flora. He loves enjoy showing visitors the rich biodiversity of Kings Park and throughout the Swan Coastal Plain where he lives. He enjoys meeting visitors to Perth and discovering a little bit about their world while showcasing his hometown. Outside welcoming visitors to Perth, Alan spends plenty of time bushwalking, scuba diving and generally keeping fit.

Meredith Peters

Meredith Peters, after many years in senior management, decided to combine traveling with the pleasure of semi-retirement. She has spent time working, hiking, and traveling in many parts of Australia. During her career, she spent time working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical and health students, based across the Northern Territory. She is currently president of her local ballroom dancing association, and has four grown grandsons and a motorhome. In her spare time, she can be found walking, dancing, reading, or writing.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Walking up to three miles at a time at a normal public walking pace over varied terrain. Standing at least three hours daily; climbing stairs (at times without handrails), getting on/off buses and boats, carrying own luggage. If you believe you require wheelchair assistance to get through an airport you are not fit enough to participate in this program.